Scientists at Brunel University’s School of Sport and Education have been researching the role of motivational music on sport and exercise for 20 years. It is expected that they will soon publish the results of this newest study that indicate that music can increase a person’s endurance by as much as 15%.

According to the school’s press release;

“Thirty participants exercised on a treadmill while listening to a selection of motivational rock or pop music, including tracks by Queen, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Madonna. They were asked to keep in strict time with the beat. The findings show that when carefully selected according to scientific principles, music can enhance endurance by 15% and improve the ‘feeling states’ of exercisers, helping them to derive much greater pleasure from the task.”

I would argue that everyone has an ideal cadence when they run and hitting that cadence will make you faster and increase your endurance. If running with music can help you achieve that specific cadence, then it is no surprise that running with music would boost performance. Hopefully, I don’t have to include Madonna and Queen on my playlist to witness these benefits.

Dr. Costas Karageorghis of Brunel University went on to say that “the synchronous application of music resulted in much higher endurance while the motivational qualities of the music impacted significantly on the interpretation of fatigue symptoms right up to the point of voluntary exhaustion.”

That’s a lot of big words, but I think that Dr. Karageorghis is saying that you might be less likely to pick up on your body’s fatigue signals when you run with music, allowing you to run further. The principles of this study were actively put to the test this year in the Sony Ericsson RUN To The Beat Half Marathon in London, UK on October 5th. During the event, bands located at 17 stations along the course played scientifically selected music to help the runners achieve their best possible performance. There’s no word yet on how many of the runners set new personal records, nor on how many of those runners have vowed to never listen to Madonna again.

But, in case you need more evidence to convince you, a large study of over 40,000 men reported in the British Journal of Cancer shows activity and walking or bicycling daily help to reduce cancer mortality and increase cancer survival.

In 1997-98, researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden and Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA sent out questionnaires to all men aged 45-79 years in a central region of Sweden. The form aimed to assess the population’s physical activity levels, smoking and drinking habits, incidence of diabetes, and family histories of cancer. Physical activity levels were assessed from questions based on occupation, housework, walking/bicycling, active leisure, and inactive leisure and took into account both the duration and intensity of exercise. Each activity was converted to a metabolic equivalent hour by the researchers, and these were added together to estimate total daily physical activity.

The study authors found that the higher the daily physical activity, the lower the rate of death from cancer. While the results show that a man would have to walk or bike more than 30 minutes per day to to guard against developing cancer, this level of activity did show a 34 percent reduction in cancer mortality and a 33 percent increase in cancer survival when compared to men who hardly ever walked or biked. In addition, walking or biking 60 minutes per day reduced cancer incidence by 16 percent, which, as the author’s point out, fits nicely with the American Institute for Cancer Research’s recommendation of 60 minutes a day of moderate activity for the best health benefits.

So this might be something to bear in mind as the gas prices continue to rise and you are looking at alternative ways to get around. It will be cheaper and healthier to stick with good ol’ legpower!

Looking at a group of highly trained distance runners, researchers at the Human Performance Laboratory at Ball State University in Indiana have found that long term endurance training may affect both slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers. This, in turn, suggests fast-twitch fibers could play a role in long distance performance.

The researchers collected muscle biopsies from the gastrocnemius (calf) muscles of 8 male collegiate varsity cross country runners and 8 (4 male, 4 female) recreationally active controls to study the contractile properties of the muscle fibers at the cellular level. By looking at samples taken from highly trained athletes, they hoped to learn more about the effects of long term training on both slow- and fast-twitch fibers that could lend insights into athletic performance.

In the study, they found that the muscle diameters of both fast- and slow- twitch muscle fibers and the contraction velocity of both muscle fiber types was greater in the endurance runners than in the recreationally active control group. These two factors led to greater power in both types of muscle fibers in the cross country runners.

The results suggest that it is not only slow-twitch muscle fibers that respond to endurance training, but also fast-twitch fibers normally associated with sprinting. In their discussion, the authors wonder if this enhancement of fast-twitch fibers then contributes to high running performance in trained distance athletes. So, when it comes to muscle function, it could be more complex than just slow-twitch for the long haul and fast-twitch for short bursts of speed.

Photo credit: Brian Sawyer

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In January, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled that the Össur Cheetah Flex-Foot prosthetics Oscar Pistorius uses give him an unfair advantage in the 400 meters. The said advantage went against the IAAF’s rule 144.2 (e), which prohibits the “use of any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides the user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device.” Therefore, he was ineligible to compete in IAAF-sanctioned competitions against able-bodied opponents, including this summer’s Beijing Olympics.

The IAAF based its decision on results from a 2-day German study conducted last November where Oscar Pistorius’ running mechanics were analyzed and compared to those of 5 able-bodied athletes. According to an IAAF news release, the study showed that Oscar Pistorius was able to run at the same speed using 25% less energy than the able-bodied athletes, and that the use of the prosthetics conferred mechanical advantages.

Unsatisfied with the IAAF’s decision, Oscar Pistorius appealed to the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland and submitted himself to a new study. The information gathered during this new study, performed at Rice University’s Locomotion Laboratory by researchers in biomechanics and physiology from multiple institutions, does not support the original findings in the German study and suggests that it was “fundamentally flawed.”

After reviewing this new evidence, last month the CAS panel upheld his appeal and stated that the earlier IAAF ruling was not based on sufficient evidence. So until it can be fully shown that the Cheetah prosthetics do confer metabolic and mechanical advantages, Oscar Pistorius is eligible to compete in able-bodied competitions. He will attempt to qualify for the South African Olympic team in July.

Though this decision applies only to Oscar Pistorius and these specific prosthetics, it and the events to unfold over the summer could change the face of sporting events in the future. Agree or disagree with the fairness of it all, it’s now time to watch and wait to see what, if anything, will happen. Or at least, that is, until more evidence comes along.

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According to a study presented at the British Society for Investigative Dermatology in April, cooked tomatoes, and their high concentration of lycopene, may help protect the skin against the damage and aging caused by UV light.

Researchers at the University of Manchester and Newcastle University in the UK fed 10 people five tablespoons of standard tomato paste with olive oil a day, while another 10 were given only olive oil. The participants’ skin was exposed to UV light at the beginning of the trial and after 12 weeks, when the team found that skin of those who were given the tomato paste each day was more able to protect itself against the UV rays.

The researchers at the University of Manchester found that the tomato diet raised levels of procollagen in the skin and researchers at Newcastle University found that more lycopene, a red pigment in tomatoes that works as an antioxidant, led to decreased damage to mitochondrial DNA in the skin—both effects that are linked to a reduction in skin aging.

So, it’s all the more reason to feast on our high-carb pasta plates with healthy helpings of Bolognese. But realistically, the protection this study found only equates to an SPF 1.3. Professor Mark Birch-Machim at Newcastle University points out, “Eating tomatoes will not make you invincible in the sun, but it may be a useful addition to sun protection along with sunscreens, shade and clothing.”

My husband is British and ever since I’ve known him he’s always joked, “a little sunburn’s OK—it shows you’ve been somewhere good on holiday” right before he’s smothered himself in SPF 45 under my watchful eye. We’d both rather have a medal or a t-shirt than sunburn and skin cancer to show for our training accomplishments on race day.

A team in Switzerland, interested in how runners who run different distances have different training needs, looked at the racing and training histories and anthropometric parameters of 15 men competing in an ultra event. According to their study published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, a fast personal best marathon time appeared to be the only thing associated with their performance in the 24-hour ultra event.

The researchers did not find an association between success in this race and weekly training hours and miles, running years, or how many marathons and 24-hour runs a runner had completed. Nor did they find any relationship between anthropometric features such as age, height, mass, leg length, percent body fat and race success. (But, in another related study, some of the same researchers found that upper arm circumference is associated with race performance by male ultra-runners, so it’s clear these results are not definitive.) They did, however, note the relationship between fast personal best marathon times and success in this event. Though logically, wouldn’t training factor into a runner’s ability to run a fast marathon? (The study authors point out they did not look at training intensity and this could be important.)

What fascinates me about this study are not necessarily the results, but is the race where the researchers collected the data—a 24-hour run in Basel, Switzerland, where runners ran around a track to see how far they could go in 24 hours.

I am inspired by the whole ultra-sport/endurance aspect of the race. I mean, the men in this study ran 136-240 km in a day. (Wow!) What I don’t quite get is why people would want to—pay to, even!—dash around in circles for 24 hours. I know I can’t discount anything unless I’ve actually tried it, but running the same track for 24 hours straight would drive me absolutely bonkers. I need the change in scenery. (Or, maybe I just need to feel like I’m going somewhere.) I like to think I am not a quitter, but in this case I am not sure what would make me give up first: exhaustion or boredom. However, I bet there’s someone out there who’s done this, or something like this, so speak up. I mean, this race is in its 20th year running. (This year’s race is next weekend.) So, leave a comment and tell us what it was like. Prove me wrong!

(Photo courtesy Jack, of Running With Jack)

There doesn’t seem to be one generally accepted cause of runner’s knee. Some thoughts are biomechnical problems, weak quadriceps, or overtraining. A study recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine Online First took a closer look at some of the factors of a runner’s gait, including pronation, that are thought to contribute to patellofemoral pain.

At the beginning of the study, the researchers from Ghent University in Belgium measured the standing foot posture and running plantar pressure of novice recreational runners who were enrolled to begin a 10-week “start-to-run” program and who had no previous lower leg or knee injuries.

Of the 102 participants who then completed the training program designed to ready runners for a 5k, 17 (16 women and 1 man) developed patellofemoral pain. When the researchers looked at the plantar pressure measurements taken at the beginning of the study, they saw that the forces under the lateral heel during heel strike and the second and third metatarsals during the propulsion phase of running were significantly higher in the runners who developed patellofemoral pain than in those who did not.

Interestingly, they did not see an association between the static foot posture, nor the force distribution during foot roll-over, and development of patellofemoral pain. So, in this study anyway, pronation and supination didn’t have anything to do with it. Instead, study authors wonder whether the pain is caused by a higher impact shock overloading the knee joint. But, results from future studies are needed to know for sure. Until then, the jury’s out on the cause of runner’s knee.

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According to a report in Personality and Individual Differences, the body images portrayed in “lad magazines” such as Maxim, Esquire, Loaded and Nuts may affect how men look at themselves and increase their desire to become more muscular.

Researchers at the University of Winchester and Coventry University in the UK asked 161 men between the ages of 18 and 36 how frequently they read men’s magazines and correlated this information to their attitudes towards appearance and their drive for muscularity. They found that the more often men read these kinds of magazines, the more influenced they, especially those not involved in a relationship, were by the imagery found inside. This extended to considering anabolic steroids and incorporating protein and energy supplements into their food and exercise schedules.

It’s not just the scantily-clad women in these magazines, but also the shots of well-chiseled men that may influence male readers. According to Dr David Giles at the University of Winchester, “the message in typical lads’ magazines is that you need to develop a muscular physique in order to attract a quality mate. Readers internalise this message, which creates anxieties about their actual bodies and leads to increasingly desperate attempts to modify them.”

If the sample population here turns out to accurately represent a wider male population, this could indicate a serious problem. Body image and eating disorders are commonly thought of as affecting women, but these illnesses are not sex-exclusive. Men can suffer as well. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, males suffering from disordered eating may often have muscle dysmorphia, a disorder where one is overly concerned with building up muscle mass.

With obesity an ever-growing problem in developed nations, it’s true some people may need a bit of motivation to exercise, eat healthy and stay fit. As we all know, sometimes it comes down to whatever gets you going. But, shouldn’t the stimulus be rooted in sound health? Swinging the pendulum too far in the opposite direction, as this study starts to illustrate, leads to excessive exercise motivated by unrealistic and unhealthy body image goals. To me, that scenario doesn’t sound like the best grounds for a successful, long-lasting relationship. Besides, I’d take Average Joes over Globo Gym, any day!

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Using positron emission tomography (PET) scans, researchers in Germany have taken the first steps to illustrating how what happens in the brain during an endurance run might relate to the feeling of runner’s high. According to their paper published last month in the journal Cerebral Cortex, endurance running led to changes in opioid binding in certain parts of the brain and corresponded to feelings of euphoria in the runners.

In the study, researchers from the Technical University Munich and the University of Bonn looked at 10 trained male runners who had experienced runner’s high in the past and were fit enough to complete a 2-hour endurance run. Each runner was injected with a radioactive ligand that would bind to opioid receptors in the brain and had their brain scanned twice: once in a resting state and once 30 minutes after a 2-hour, 21km run. Their moods were also analyzed at these times using Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS).

The results of the PET scans showed that after running there were fewer opioid receptors available in certain parts of the brain for the PET ligand to bind to, indicating these receptors were already bound by an opioid released during the run. This decreased receptor availability showed up in areas of the brain that are understood to play a part in emotional processing and occurred alongside a significant increase in feelings of happiness and euphoria. This suggests there is a link between endorphin binding in certain parts of the brain and the feelings of runner’s high, which seems to fit with common theories thus far.

As this was a pilot study, there is much work to be done to confirm the mechanism behind these results. Currently the team, as led by Professor Henning Boecker, is looking at the effects of endurance training on pain processing. Perhaps one day soon scientists will get to the heart—or should I say the brain?—of the runner’s high and all it entails.

Release of endorphins after endurance training: five consecutive brain slices. The brain areas in which body-own opioids are released and bound after long-distance running are most strongly visible in regions a, b and c, which play an elementary role in emotional processing. The subjective level of euphoria in the investigated runners was closely related to the amount of endorphins released and bound in these areas.

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After results from an earlier study in fatigued exercisers showed favorably toward probiotic therapy, researchers in Canberra, Australia set out to see if feeding healthy endurance runners capsules of the bacteria Lactobacillus fermentum would have any effect on their immune response and whether the runners would still become sick during treatment. According to the paper published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the runners who were given the probiotic treatment spent less than half as many days ill as those who’d received the placebo.

The researchers followed 20 male distance runners for 14 weeks. After one month of taking either the L fermentum treatment or the placebo, the runners had a “washout month” in which they took neither. In the third month, the runners who were originally given the treatment were then given the placebo and vice versa. Alongside taking their three capsules twice a day, the runners, whose average mileage was around 100 km a week, also kept daily training and illness logs.

At the beginning of the study and at the end of each month, the participants completed treadmill tests, and gave saliva and blood samples so the researchers could check the levels of immune function indicators. However, the most prominent finding from the study came from the illness logs. Although the duration of each illness reported was about the same, treatment group runners got sick less often and with less severity than placebo group runners.

Though it was a small study in extremely fit athletes, it appears it might be worth delving more deeply into the mechanisms behind these results. In the end, these bacteria might turn out to be good for more than just our guts.